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PATRIOT Act

PATRIOT Act

The USA PATRIOT Act broadly expands law enforcement's surveillance and investigative powers and represents one of the most significant threats to civil liberties, privacy, and democratic traditions in US history.

What is PATRIOT?

The USA PATRIOT Act (officially the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act) was quickly developed as anti-terrorism legislation in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The large and complex law received little Congressional oversight and debate and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001.

PATRIOT gives sweeping search and surveillance to domestic law enforcement and foreign intelligence agencies and eliminates checks and balances that previously gave courts the opportunity to ensure that those powers were not abused. PATRIOT and follow-up legislation now in development threaten the basic rights of millions of Americans.

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which claims that National Security Letters (NSLs) take too long and that it needs the authority to conduct surveillance without judicial oversight, delayed its own investigation of a student suspected of links to...

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) along with the National Security Archive urged a federal appeals court Wednesday to strike down the National Security Letter (NSL) provision of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.
The federal surveillance law, as expanded by the PATRIOT Act, allows the FBI to use...

Last week, the Department of Justice Inspector General's office released a damning report documenting the FBI abusing its powers under the PATRIOT Act and violating the law to collect Americans' telephone, Internet, financial, credit, and other personal records about Americans without judicial approval. It appears that not everyone at...

EFF is calling for Congress to hold aggressive hearings on the FBI's domestic intelligence authority after the release of a Justice Department report [PDF] showing the Bureau abusing its power to collect telephone, Internet, financial, credit, and other personal records about Americans without judicial approval. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy...

Report Says FBI Stepped Over the Legal Line in Searches for Personal Information Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is calling for Congress to hold aggressive hearings on the FBI's domestic intelligence authority after the release of a Justice Department report showing the Bureau abusing its power to...